Method of protecting the soles of shoes by using a transparent adhesive

ABSTRACT

An improved method for protecting the sole of shoes from normal wear and tear, scratches and scrapes; allowing the consumer to enjoy the look of the original sole. The method consist of several important steps: 1) A transparent adhesive is cut in the shape of a sole. 2) The transparent adhesive is placed on the entire sole of the shoe. The “sticky” side of the adhesive is placed on the sole of the shoe. 3) The user then wears the shoe with the adhesive on the bottom of the shoe. 4) After a few wears, once the adhesive is no longer protecting the sole of the shoe, the user removes the adhesive. 5) Steps 1-4 are repeated with a new adhesive.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/796,637, filed Nov. 17, 2012 by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND-PRIOR ART

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appearsrelevant:

U.S. Patents Patent Number Issue Date Patentee 8,024,872 Sep. 27, 2011Pettis 5,907,881 Jun. 01, 1999 Safdie 5,315,767 May 31, 1984 Bradbury4,587,746 May 13, 1986 Williams

This invention relates to the soles, specifically to the protection ofleather soled shoes. Consumers of leather soled footwear are constantlylooking for effective methods to protect the soles of their shoes, sincedamage is often inevitable when shoes are worn on abrasive surfaces. Thetwo most common materials that shoe soles are made out of are leatherand rubber. Generally, leather soled shoes are more expensive thanrubber soled shoes. Consumers often look at a quality pair of leathershoes as an investment. However, one of the major disadvantages towearing shoes with a leather sole is that the sole gets damaged far morequickly than rubber soled shoes. The leather sole quickly attracts dirt,grime, scratches, and scrapes from contact with the ground. After only afew wears the soles of leather shoes often become very unattractive,dirty, dingy, and old looking. In addition to seeking protection for thesoles of their shoes, many consumers like to keep the look and feel ofthe original sole.

For years consumers have addressed this issue using various methods. Themost common method is having the shoe “resoled.” In order to have yourshoes resoled, one must take their shoes to a professional shoe repairshop and have the sole replaced after the damage has already occurred.Furthermore, they can also send their shoes to a professional shoerepair shop to have a rubber overlay placed on the sole of their shoe.These methods are very inconvenient to the consumer, as they need to beadministered by a professional. Also, these methods can be timeconsuming.

Other protective measures for the soles of shoes have been proposed, themost relevant is U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,746 by Williams. This patentrelates to a metal shoe tap which is secured to the sole of the shoe.Although the metal tap provides some level of protection, it alsopresents several disadvantages. First, the metal used to cover the solecan often be heavy and present some discomfort to the user during wear.Second, the application of the sole tap, is not something which oftenrequires screws and is not something which can be easily self applied bythe user. Lastly, the metal tap covers the original sole. For example,if a woman has a colored shoe sole she does not want to cover, thismetal tap will hide the original sole. This is often undesirable forconsumers of luxury footwear, who are opposed to covering the originalsole.

SUMMARY

A method of protecting the soles of shoes using a transparent adhesive,allowing footwear consumers to preserve the original sole.

Advantages

Several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provideprotection for the soles of leather shoes that is convenient and easyfor the consumer to self apply, that can be used on various type ofleather soled shoes, that does not require the user to replace theoriginal sole of their shoe, prolongs the life of leather soled shoes.Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from aconsideration of the drawings and subsequent descriptions.

DRAWINGS Description of Drawings

The two drawings are closely related figures, therefore having the samenumber but different alphabetical suffixes.

FIGS. 1A and 1B both show the adhesive being applied to the sole of awomen's high heel shoe.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

1. Adhesive film

2. Sole of a shoe

FIG. 1A and 1B both show the application of the adhesive onto the shoesole. The film would be applied by the consumer, a human being. Prior tothe film being applied to the shoe, the adhesive film is cut to fit theshape of the shoe, so its ready for application. These figures show theadhesive film already cut into the shape of the sole.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Accordingly, the reader will see that the method of using a transparentadhesive provides a more effective, convenient, and economical solutionto protecting the soles of leather soled shoes. In addition, when aconsumers uses a transparent adhesive prior to wearing a new pair ofshoes, they are able to prevent the leather sole from having directcontact with the ground, dirt, or abrasive surface Furthermore themethod of using a transparent adhesive has the additional advantages inthat:

-   -   It provides the consumer with a sense of security knowing their        shoes are being protected from damage, allowing them to without        reservations or fear of damage.    -   It allows the consumer to keep the look of the original sole, as        the consumer is not required to replace the original sole        because of damage caused by contact with various surfaces    -   It prolongs the life of the shoe, allowing the consumer more        opportunities to wear their shoes.    -   This method protects against normal wear and tear, scratches and        scrapes.

Although the description above contains many specifics, these should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but merelyproviding illustrations of several embodiments.

Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appendedclaims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

1. A method of placing a transparent adhesive on the sole of a shoe to protect the sole from damage caused by wearing of the shoe, comprising: a. tracing the shape of shoe sole onto said adhesive, a. using a scissors or razor to cut said adhesive in the predetermined shape of the sole of the shoe, b. placing said adhesive on the bottom or sole of the shoe, covering the entire sole of the shoe, which comes in contact with the ground when a person walks, c. wearing said shoe with said adhesive on the shoe, allowing the said adhesive to come in contact with the ground or other surface, instead of the sole of the shoe whereby said method conveniently protects said shoe sole from damage from the ground or other surfaces.
 2. The said method in claim 1 protects the said shoe sole from damage from the ground or other surfaces.
 3. The said method in claim 1 can also be used to protect the heel of the shoe
 4. The said adhesive in claim 1 is made of a urethane protective material
 5. The said adhesive in claim 1 covers the entire sole of the shoe
 6. The said adhesive in claim 1 is used on shoes with a leather sole
 7. The steps in claim 1 can be repeated by the user with a new adhesive
 8. The method in claim 1 is used on women's high heel designer shoes with a leather sole
 9. The said adhesive in claim 1 is lightweight
 10. A method of applying a transparent adhesive to the sole of a shoe to avoid covering the original sole with a non transparent material.
 11. The method of claim 10 can be easily completed by the footwear consumer
 12. The method of claim 10 is used on colored soled shoes
 13. The method of claim 10 is used on leather soled shoes 